Zalia Avant-garde is the FIRST African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee and she can ball too
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Posted By: Reginald Culpepper on July 09, 2021 A teenager from Louisiana has made history by becoming the first African American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee and the competition's second Black winner since its inception. Avant-garde won the competition by spelling the word “Murraya,” which is a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees. With her win, the New Orleans resident Avant-garde becomes the first African American champion in the nearly 100-year history of the event. She will receive a $50,000 cash prize; a commemorative medal; the “Scripps Cup,” which is the official championship trophy of the Scripps National Spelling Bee; a $2,500 cash prize and reference library from Merriam-Webster; and $400 in reference materials from Encyclopædia Britannica. The 2021 edition marks a comeback for the Spelling Bee. It was canceled last year for the first time since WWII because of the pandemic. The Scripps National Spelling Bee had 209 spellers from across the U.S. and around the globe this year. Spellers competed virtually in the first three rounds of competition: the Preliminaries, Quarterfinals and Semifinals, then the top 10-12 spellers gathered for the in-person Finals at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. "It felt really good to win because I have been working on it for like two years. So to actually win the whole thing was like a dream come true," she told CNN. "I felt like in the moment I snapped out of a surreal dream." While Avant-garde is an impressive speller, it's not the only accomplishment that she has to her name. She is also a STAND-OUT basketball player! She’s just out here giving other 14-year-olds the business with these buckets.
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Reginald Culpepper
President, Fulfillment and Web Services, HBCUCONNECT Clark Atlanta University class of 1998 Member Since September 2000 |
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